


Generations 19: Nothing but Trouble

by Fier



Series: Generations [21]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Anxiety, Babysitting, F/M, Fluff, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26078554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fier/pseuds/Fier
Summary: Meg's new husband pulls baby-sitting duty for the entire Scully clan one day. Mulder is the only help available. Somehow the two childless wonders muddle through in spite of it being worse than an X-File.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully, Margaret Scully/Walter Skinner
Series: Generations [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857445
Kudos: 6





	Generations 19: Nothing but Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> **Title:** Generations 19. Nothing but Trouble  
>  **Author:** Eowyn Evenstar
> 
> Disclaimer stuff. I don't own Mulder, Scully, Skinner or Meg. I'm just borrowing them to play. Chris Carter is the person who I borrowed them from and I promise to give them back when I'm done. The other characters you find in this story don't belong to me either. They belong to Macspooky and her most excellent Generation series and are used with her full permission. This is not part of my Fusion series.
> 
> Hi All! Macspooky here. A few weeks ago Eowyn sent me a partially completed draft of this story and a request to borrow my universe. Well, I absolutely loved it. In fact, I loved the story so much I hope that I have convinced her to write a sequel!!!! It would probably be best to read it after reading my latest installment as it will make more sense, but it can stand alone. Eowyn, welcome to the Macspooky universe. Hope you stay a long time! Let's hear a round of applause. It appears now that we have a Macspooky/Juliettt/Eowyn universe, a truly shared place.
> 
> No third season spoilers. This would be rated PG for mild language.
> 
> E-mail me at 72620.3447@compuserve.com Eowyn

Assistant Director Walter Skinner of the FBI heard the crash, saw the resulting disaster, and knew for certain he was in trouble. He was not going to survive the next few hours without help, but who to call? Normally he could call on anyone of a dozen qualified agents when he was in trouble but not this time. He doubted that any of them were trained for this. His mind ran through his list of possibilities and only one name came to mind. The man wasn't exactly trained for this, in fact, his experience in this area was quite limited but the few occasions when this agent had been confronted with similar circumstances he seemed to possess a natural affinity for dealing with such situations as Skinner now faced. The AD heard a loud thump and ensuing cry and made up his mind as he ran to stop further destruction. He needed Mulder now!

* * *

Special Agent Fox Mulder was enjoying a relaxing Sunday morning at home reading the newspaper. Dana, his wife of less than a year was out to brunch and shopping with her mother. Margaret had just returned from her honeymoon and they had lots of catching up to do. Now Fox liked being with them both very much, but when it came to a choice between sitting through family gossip, that he'd mostly heard already, followed by shopping at the mall and a quiet Sunday at home reading the paper, well there was no contest, the paper won hands down. So Dana had kissed him goodbye at ten o'clock, a little under an hour ago, and gone to meet her mom at one of their favorite restaurants.

He was about a third of the way through the paper and was contemplating a possible trek out to the newsstand to pick up a New York Times when the phone rang. He smiled. He hoped it was Dana calling to tell him she missed him or maybe suggest that he join them for a late lunch. Contemplating a whole Sunday without her had left him feeling lonely and almost willing to endure the Mall, as long as he was with her. "Mulder."

"Mulder, get over here now. I need your help. Damn it no! No! No! No! Fuc... Shi... Blast! Mulder, hurry!!" With a loud cry and a bang the phone went dead.

Mulder didn't stop to think, he quickly put on his shoes, grabbed his car keys and headed out the door. From the sound of things Skinner was being assaulted by at least two maybe three provocateurs and he didn't have any backup.

* * *

Mulder could hear the cries as he approached the door to Skinner and Margaret's apartment. It sounded as if all hell had broken loose. He thought about turning and leaving but the compassion he kept well hidden wouldn't let him abandon even Skinner to the fate he knew the man faced. He stepped up and knocked on the door.

"Mulder, thank god. Here." Fox found a bundle suddenly in his arms. He turned to survey the damaged apartment. It appeared to have been professionally tossed. Papers were everywhere, drawers pulled out, cushions removed from the sofa, a white powder coated the coffee table and surrounding floor and a suspicious puddle of yellow liquid was on the ceramic tile. _Guess he should be thankful that it hit the tile and not the carpet. Carpet was a bitch to clean._ He then turned to survey his boss and new father-in-law. Skinner's glasses were strangely bent and were so coated with a slimy haze that it was a wonder that the man could see out of them. The same white powder that coated the floor and coffee table appeared to be covering a good portion of his boss' head and sweats and the sweats were stained with various liquids that Mulder didn't even want to contemplate the make-up of. He'd had similar experiences himself and could imagine. He fought to suppress a smile, he had never seen his boss look so frazzled and disheveled. Mulder got strait to the heart of the matter with his next question.

"So how in the world did you get baby sitting duty? And how long have the little monsters been here?" He reached over and brushed some of the baby powder off his boss' shoulder then brought his fingers to his nose and sniffed. "You do know that this is supposed to be applied to a baby's butt not your head, right?" Skinner shot him a dirty look but restrained himself from comment. He couldn't afford to piss Mulder off today. He needed his help.

"A little under an hour. Chris and Jen where supposed to watch them but they had an emergency. Her parents were in a car crash so they are driving up to be with them. It wasn't too serious but her mom is going to be in the hospital for a day or two so they wanted to be there to help. I was the only one they could reach. I thought I'd be able to catch Meg and Scully at the restaurant but they weren't there and I couldn't reach any of the parents. Apparently they are out of town or out running errands. You're the only one who answered."

_Lucky me._ Thought Fox.

As Skinner finished Fox could here the fear and panic in his voice. "Do you realize that we could have them for another five or six hours!"

Fox Mulder found himself thinking fondly of little green microbes. It was going to be a long day. He knew for certain that Dana hadn't taken her cellular and that they were headed to the outlet mall. "They were going to the Potomac Mills Outlet Center. That's way over in Virginia. I told Dana that she doesn't need to scrimp but she won't listen. This month and late January are supposed to be the best bargain months. You know she even clips coupons?"

Skinner grinned at that. "Meg does the same thing. Guess we know where Scully got it from." Walter wrinkled his nose. "Did you step in something on the way in?"

"Fraid not, I'd say that one of these three is the culprit." Mulder lifted Dani up and smelled her rear. "Not this one. How 'bout yours?"

Skinner followed Mulder's example and lifted Sinead's son, Sean, up to check. "He smells okay."

Mulder bent over and set Dani down, then lifted Bill and Maureen's kid up. "Bingo. If I get this one you get the next one, and no trying to pull rank or I'm outta here. This was supposed to be a relaxing Sunday of newspaper reading. Where are the diaper bags?"

Walter pointed to a large pile of paraphernalia over by the dinning room table. "There's a portable playpen in there but I haven't had time to set it up. What the hell was that." The AD cringed and looked swiftly around.

Dani had taken the opportunity to toddle over to an end table and pull a light cord. The lamp had come crashing down onto the sofa. Mulder and Skinner both lunged for her at the same time, bumping shoulders, heads and asses in an attempt to stop her from pulling harder and bringing the lamp crashing to the floor. Mulder grabbed Dani in one arm while still holding on to the seven month old smelly little girl. Skinner caught the lamp and righted it with one hand, Sean being in the other. The expensive silk shade was only slightly dented.

"Look, Skinner, we're going to have to live with the smell for awhile, one of us has got to set up a containment facility. You know how to set one of these up?" Mulder asked picking up the bag containing the playpen. Walter shook his head no. "Okay you take stinky here and keep hold of Sean and I'll try to set it up and watch Dani."

Skinner did as he was told. There was no way he was going to argue with Fox Mulder today. Walter sincerely doubted his ability to survive till Monday to take retribution on his agent if Mulder decided to walk. He doubted Mulder would leave but he wasn't about to take any chances.

Mulder was struggling with the playpen. He'd watched Dana set it up a few times and it hadn't looked too difficult. Of course someone had probably shown her how to do it and he had been watching Dani for her at the time so that she could concentrate on what she was doing. He, on the other hand, had to stop every couple of minutes and remove something from the sixteen month old's grasp. By the forth time he had taken something away she was becoming very unhappy. As he removed the large remote control from her hands and placed it high up on the stereo shelves she began to scream and wail in frustration. He tried to ignore her and finish the play pen when he realized that the crying was now in parallel. He looked across the room at Skinner who was restraining his two quiet ones and avoiding Mulder's eyes. _No. Please no._ A look of horror came slowly to Mulder's face.

Walter thought that Mulder's look would be funny if he didn't share his horror as well.

"Not the baby. Please tell me that there are only three of them not all four." Mulder pleaded with his boss.

Skinner still refused to look him in the eye but answered, "Kevin and Anita's little boy is... was asleep in the guest bedroom."

"Shit." Was Mulder's only comment.

The AD thought about telling Mulder to watch his language but then he remembered some of his own comments while he was waiting for his son-in-law to show up and just prayed to himself that Dani was too young to start mimicking words she heard. The others were probably safe but she just might...

Mulder finished putting up the playpen and put Dani into it. Then took little Mo from his boss, _wish I could remember her name_ he thought to himself, and laid her down on the floor to change.

After placing Sean in the pen with Dani, Skinner went first to clean up the puddle of urine off the tile floor and then to heat up a baby bottle for Kevin junior. Wish I could remember his name. "Mulder do you remember what Kevin named his kid?"

"Haven't the slightest. How 'bout Bill's?"

"Not a clue. I guess it's Kevin Junior for today..."

"And this one can be Little Mo."

"Fair..." Skinner got a look at the mess Mulder was cleaning up and was glad that he hadn't eaten recently. _Damn that stuff sticks like tar and smells worse._ He remembered Fox's comment that he got the next one and debated the odds of making it through the day without having to face a dirty diaper. _Not good. Definitely not good. I'm not cut out for this._ He took the bottle out of the microwave and started towards the bedroom. _How in the world can something so little make such a racket?_ It was starting to get on his nerves.

He stopped as Mulder yelled something. "Did you test it?"

Skinner looked disgustedly at the bottle. _I'm not tasting this stuff._

"No, not taste... test. See if it's the right temperature." Mulder might not know much, but he knew that the microwave had been going way too long, so that unless the bottle was frozen solid it was now way too hot. Skinner's yell confirmed his supposition. "Stick it in the freezer for a few minutes to let it cool. Then go get Kev Jr., that crying is getting on my nerves."

Skinner did as he was told. He came back from the bedroom carrying a baby that obviously had eyes and hands only for his glasses.

He went into the kitchen to try to wash the slime off his glasses. Mulder followed behind. "Where do you keep your grocery bags?"

"Huh?"

"The plastic bags your groceries come in from the store."

"I don't keep them. I just throw them away. What in the world do you want one for?"

"Have you and Mom been to the store since you've been back?"

"Yeah. We had to stock up."

"Then you've got bags. Now let's see where would Mom stick them." Mulder began to rummage through the cabinets. "Bingo."

_Now how the hell did he know that?_ Skinner was definitely puzzled.

"Dana keeps them. I figured that Mom would too." Mulder answered his unspoken question. He then proceeded to dump the smelly diaper in the bag and tie it tight. "That should contain most of the smell. I didn't figure you wanted me to leave you with this foursome while I took out the trash." He grinned at his boss quick nod of agreement.

Unbeknownst to both Walter and Fox, sixteen month olds do not suffer confinement well and unlike her younger cousins she could do more about it than wail in protest. So, while Sean and Little Mo played quietly Dani made her break. The remote control fascinated her. It was the biggest black box she had ever seen. She had no idea that it ran not only the VCR, laserdisc player and TV but the sound system as well. All she knew was that it had tons and tons of wonderful buttons and the big people didn't want her to play with it. That always indicated the degree of fun to be had with any toy. The more the big people didn't want you playing with it the more fun there was to be had. The fact that it was high up on a shelf only added to the challenge. She was a good climber, always had been, so she approached the open sided stereo shelves and began to climb. About half way up she discovered something very interesting. There were these long black things that looked like spaghetti coming out of the back of the neat black boxes. It didn't take too much pulling to get them to come out, and as small as she was she could easily get behind the shelves and pull. She started at the bottom and began to work her way up disconnecting wires as she went.

The baby's bottle had finally cooled so Mulder and Skinner returned to the living room to sit and catch their breath. They sat down, Skinner taking the couch and stuffing a bottle into Kevin Junior's mouth while holding him on his lap and Mulder sat in a nearby chair. He had scanned the room when he came in and sensed that something was wrong. He began to look more closely around the room.

"What is it, Mulder?"

"I don't know but something isn't right."

_The whole damn place looks like an earthquake hit. Of course something's not right?_

It suddenly occurred to Mulder what was missing. "Where's Dani? She's gotten out of the play pen. Dani. Dani. Answer your Uncle Fox okay." He got up to pace around the room and then headed down the hall when he didn't see her.

Before he had gotten out of ear shot he heard a giggle. He backtracked to the living room and looked around again.

"It sounds like it's coming from over there but I don't see her."

Mulder headed over to the shelves and looked closer. "Damn."

"What?" Skinner was not happy. His one indulgence was his sound system. He was an audiophile and he had some of the very best equipment. "What did she do?!"

Reaching behind the shelves he removed Dani. She had wires clasped in both hands and a couple wrapped around her feet and legs. Mulder examined the back of the equipment. "I don't think she's broken anything but she's disconnected every wire back here."

"Shit. Are you sure?"

Mulder nodded his head. "From the looks of things you're going to have to start from scratch. There are still a couple of wires connected but they aren't to the right jacks. It looks like she tried to stuff some back in. Sorry."

Skinner simply shook his head, it would take four to six hours to re-hookup the system. _He was too old for this. Being a granddad was supposed to be easy. They came over to visit, you played with them for an hour or so and then they went home or you passed them over to Meg. This kind of disaster was only supposed to happen if it was your own._ That shot a pang through him. He and Annie had so wanted kids but he had given up on that long ago. He didn't mind, he had his Meg.

Dani upon being removed from her new toy began to cry and nothing Mulder could do would stop her. He considered giving her some stereo wires but one look at Skinner's face quickly banished that idea. _Okay. Let's be methodical. Smell and feel diaper. Change wouldn't hurt._ Mulder quickly changed her. Still crying. _Blast. Okay what else? Food!?_ "When did she last eat?"

"Don't know. I haven't fed her."

_Bingo!_ "Did they bring any food?"

Skinner simply shrugged as he continued to feed the baby. Mulder went to check the diaper bags. _No food. I could always go to the store and get some._ Another look at his father-in-law quickly banished that idea. _Okay... what does Dana feed her? Jars of stuff... but I don't have any jars._ He suddenly remembered a restaurant and a plate of spaghetti... his spaghetti... which he hadn't gotten to eat more than half of because Dani had wanted it. He hadn't believed a baby could eat that much. "Come on Dani." Mulder said picking her up, "Let's go see if Uncle Wally has any pasta in his pantry."

Walter groaned inwardly. He really didn't want to spend the rest of his days being called Uncle Wally by all of Meg's grand kids. It had been bad enough in Ireland when Mulder had started it but not here, here it would be on a daily basis. Uncle Walter or Uncle Walt was fine but he really hated Wally, as Mulder well knew! _Well Mulder's and Scully's kids will probably call me Grandpa. Wonder why?_ He had a sneaking suspicion that it had a lot to do with his feelings for his agent son-in-law, feelings that even predated Meg, but he didn't want to delve too deeply into that. If his bosses ever found out there would be hell to pay.

Mulder put water on to boil and then started checking the cabinets and fridge. He found some macaroni in cheese sauce in the freezer. _Great! Bet Mom bought this for the kids. It sure doesn't look to be to Skinner's taste._ > He also spotted some ice cream and marked that as desert. After putting the pasta in the water and setting the timer he headed into the living room to get the high chair he had spotted. _Chris and Jen must have made two or three trips each to bring all this stuff in. No wonder they drive an extended Caravan._

* * *

"The baby's done eating but won't let me put him down without wailing."

"Hang on. I'll set up the baby mesmerizing device."

Walter had no idea what Mulder was talking about but from the sound of it he hoped it worked. Fox came in and proceeded to put up a baby swing and then put Kevin Jr. into it and turned it on. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, _Mulder's right. It is hypnotizing._ The baby settled in comfortably and began to gurgle to himself. Mulder headed back to the kitchen to check on the pasta. Dani walking and wailing, followed behind.

Skinner noticed that Little Mo had fallen asleep and decided to put her down in the portable crib in the back bedroom before bouncing Sean woke her up. By the time he got back, Sean, upon finding himself alone, had started to cry and being picked up did little to quiet him. _What I wouldn't give for half an hour of silence._ The AD thought to himself.

"Sounds like he's hungry, too. Change him and bring him on in. Might as well feed them both at once." Mulder yelled from the kitchen.

A couple of minutes later he heard Walter yelling. "No, no, no! Wait until I get the damn diaper on." Fox grinned and peeked around the corner. Skinner had liquid on his face and down his front. He grabbed a damp dish towel and threw it to his boss.

"Gotta cover the target shooter when you change a boy, Uncle Wally." The AD shot him a look that would have had a lesser agent running for cover. Mulder only grinned. As Skinner finished doing up the diaper Mulder said. "Give him to me and go wash up and change your shirt or you'll smell like piss the rest of the day."

Skinner did as he was told. He headed down the hall to the master suite glad of the chance for a break. He seriously considered locking the door and refusing to come out. He hadn't done that since he was ten years old but right now it seemed like a really good idea. After talking himself out of that idea he returned to the kitchen to help Mulder feed Dani and Sean.

* * *

As Walter approached the kitchen he heard an incredible racket. The crying had stopped only to be replaced by the sound of clinking and clanking and banging. The babies had gotten out every pot and pan in the cabinet.

"Mulder, do you know how much that cookware costs?"

"Fine, you take it away from them." Skinner looked hard at the two who where happily playing and decided that a few dents and a little noise was worth not having the crying. He sat down to rest and watch, glancing occasionally over at the swing to make sure the littlest one was happy. He was happily swinging away. Walt considered buying a swing as a permanent fixture for his apartment. Meg's grandkids were bound to come over to visit every now and then and this was definitely a useful item. He wondered if it came in a double seater model? Or maybe in an adult size for Mulder's office. _Now behave, Walt, you could be alone trying to do this._ He blanched at the thought.

"Okay, kids, time to eat." Mulder said picking Dani up and setting her in a kitchen chair. He motioned for Walter to put Sean in the high chair. "You're a big girl, Dani, so you're going to have to sit in a big person's chair, okay?"

The feeding commenced. By the time the kids were full there wasn't a surface within five feet of their chairs that didn't have bits of pasta and or ice cream on it. The babies loved the food but they liked playing with it even more. They spewed it, spit it (spitting goes farther for the uninitiated), threw it and wiped it on every surface they could reach. Including the two adults feeding them.

One of Dani's strongest shots hit Skinner at the top of his head and worked it's way slowly down his face. Fox didn't stop laughing for several minutes. He was very thankful for his photographic memory but he wished he had a camera because no one at work would ever believe this. Besides he really wished Dana could see it. Describing it, he knew, just wouldn't capture the essence. About the time he stopped laughing Sean whacked his bowl right into Mulder's nuts. "Oww! Easy, little guy, your cousin Dana has a use for those." Then it was Skinner's turn to laugh.

While they were cleaning up Dani, Sean and the kitchen they debated what to do for the rest of the day. Mulder thought a trip to the park might not be a bad idea but Walter felt that that was asking for more problems than it solved. Neither man noticed that the AD had forgotten, or perhaps just didn't know, to secure the waist strap in the high chair. Sean finding himself bored and unsecured wiggled out and proceeded to explore the pantry.

The baby in the swing began to cry and Skinner turned and walked quickly towards him. He didn't want him to get revved up to full cry and wake the one sleeping baby. Mulder turned to look and spotted something his boss had failed to see. Sean had managed to dump an entire bottle of cooking oil onto the floor and Fox saw the AD's feet come down in it and fly out from under him. He didn't have time to think but reacted instinctively by reaching out and trying to catch Skinner under the arms. His father-in-law's momentum was too strong and Fox's footing too unsure. They both went down hard. Mulder fell hard on his tail bone. Walter landed on his butt, as well, while his head came crashing down into Mulder's gut knocking the wind out of both of them.

As they gasped to get their breath back a loud chorus of, "Shit," echoed throughout the room.

It was followed almost immediately by Dani's voice going, "Sit."

Mulder and Skinner looked guiltily at each other as they tried to sit up and prayed that her parents never figured out that it wasn't 'sit' that she was saying.

"Are you okay, Walt?" Mulder didn't even notice that he had called his boss by his first name as he helped him sit up.

"Yeah. How about you?" At Mulder's nod of yes Walter continued, "Thanks, Fox. I think it's safe to say you saved me from a concussion, at the very least, if not a fractured skull."

"My motivation was purely selfish. Do you realize that I would have had these four by myself if you were carted off to the ER?"

Skinner laughed. "On second thought maybe I could try the fall again."

"No way. You're in it for the duration."

Dani and Sean had by this point decided that the adults were on the floor because they wanted to play and they were happy to oblige. They pounced on Fox and Walter and began crawling over them, pulling on their clothes, hair and glasses, and attempting to bounce on their stomachs. This particular maneuver by Sean on Mulder stomach resulted in a loud yell from the bouncee. His gut was still pretty sore from where Skinner's head had hit. The baby who had quieted down to watch the new entertainment decided that the fun was over and began to cry again. This time in earnest.

"I'll get him and change him," Mulder told Skinner. "You're covered in cooking oil. Guess you get to go change, again. He got up and went over to the baby. "Okay Kevin J let's get you a clean diaper."

As Walter was pulling himself up and keeping a watchful eye on Dani, back at the pans, and Sean, playing with the now empty plastic cooking oil bottle, he heard Mulder start laughing. _He sounds like he's becoming hysterical. What the hell am I going to do if he loses it?_ He went in to see what was going on.

"Mulder, what's with you? Something wrong with Kevin Junior?"

Fox only laughed harder and pointed at the naked from the waist down baby. Walter met Mulder's eye and found himself laughing, too. "It's definitely not Kevin J."

"No way! Little Anita or Anita Junior maybe... Oh shi... could you see Kevin's face if we had made it all day without realizing he had a girl not a boy."

Walter laughed back, "Great impression to make on one of my new son-in-laws."

"I'll make sure you know what sex Dana's and my kid is as soon as I do, Grandpa."

Anita Junior, tired of waiting for a new diaper, promptly peed all over herself and the tile floor. "Shi... Damn. That does it. Let's stick these three in the tub and clean them up. I noticed a change of clothes for each of them in the diaper bags."

Skinner nodded, maybe Fox could watch them in the tub while he changed clothes. He took a good look at Mulder, he'd have to find some clothes for him to wear as well. "I'll help you get them in and started, then do you think you can manage them while I try to clean up this mess and get changed."

"I'll try, but as tempting as it will be don't be overlong, okay."

Walter nodded and stripped off his shoes and pants. At Mulder's smile he defended himself. "Do you know the mess that cooking oil will make on the carpet if I track it into the hall."

Fox smiled, "Better tell that to Sean." Sean had slipped behind Skinner and was starting down the hall. His clothes, needless to say were soaked in the stuff. Walter made a grab for him, scooped him up and headed down the hall to the bathroom.

Mulder stripped off the rest of the baby's clothes and then grabbed Dani and followed after him a kid under each arm. Skinner had the water running slowly and Sean's clothes off. He gently sat him down in the tub and turned to help Mulder with Dani. "I'll wash Anita J and then give a shout for you. You can dry her and dress her and put her in the play pen. If we're lucky she'll either play quietly or go to sleep. Then you can finish clean up detail while I try to keep this pair entertained in here." Mulder instructed him.

Walter nodded in agreement and went to change while Mulder started to wash the baby. As he was gathering up the oil and urine soaked clothes he heard his son-in-law yell.

"She's all clean and all yours."

Skinner did as he had been told. When he was done with the baby he put her down in the play pen and was moderately surprised when she began to play quietly. _Finally one of them following orders._ As he started to clean up the oil he heard crying from the back bedroom. Little Mo was up. _Damn. Hope she likes baths._ He went and got her, stripped her down, took her into the bathroom and handed her over to Fox.

Mulder seemed to be keeping the crew entertained. He had taken Margarets's almost empty shampoo bottle, rinsed it out and was using it to squirt the babies. Dani and Sean found this to be the ultimate in amusement and were giggling every time the water hit another part of their bodies. Walter sat Little Mo down in the water and went back to cleaning. He had gathered up all the dirty clothes into a large garbage bag, cleaned up most of the oil, pasta, ice cream and urine and was contemplating starting a load of laundry when he heard Mulder shout for help.

"No, no, no, Dani, don't play with the cream rinse. Sean, don't squirt shampoo at Mo. Walter, help!"

Skinner rushed in to find Fox grabbing desperately for the shampoo and cream rinse. Sean had the shampoo in a double fisted iron grip and was slinging the bottle around shampoo drops going everywhere within a five foot range. Dani had the cream rinse bottle upside down and was dumping it out onto the edge of the tub and the ceramic tile floor below. She was closer so Walter grabbed the bottle from her and then reached for a towel to clean up the puddle of cream rinse. Mulder had finally succeeded in getting hold of the shampoo from Sean but Sean was expressing his displeasure by screaming. "What happened, Mulder?"

"I had them all three washed, and shampooed. They were just ready to get out and I was about to call you when I noticed Dani had grabbed Mom's conditioner. I reached over for it and Sean grabbed the shampoo. Then they both were squeezing and squirting."

"Let's try rinsing them again and then we have the great fun of getting them dressed."

Skinner shook his head and looked at his watch. _Only three o'clock. Shit. Another two hours at the bare minimum._ He knelt down beside Fox to help rinse the babies off.

* * *

Dana and Meg had not spent as long as they had planned at the mall. They had both tired out quickly. Still some jet lag her mom had told Dana. Dana was a little worried, her mom normally had more stamina than she did and had appeared to be distracted most of the day. _Oh well being married takes some adjustment. Maybe she's tired for the same reason that I was tired after I married Fox._ Dana stopped that train of thought. She really didn't feel too comfortable contemplating her mom's sex life.

As they approached the door to her Mom's and Skinner's apartment they met Bill coming out of the other elevator. "What are you doing here, Bill? I thought you and Maureen had gone camping with the kids."

"Hi, Mom, Dana. We took Michael and Eileen but left the baby with Chris and Jen. When we got to their house there was a note on the door saying that they had had an emergency and to come here to pick up the kids."

"Kids?" Meg asked.

"Yeah. The note asked us to keep Dani tonight and maybe tomorrow. I guess she's here, too."

"Poor Walter. He must have had a handful keeping up with two kids for the last few hours."

Dana said nothing but grinned to herself. She'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall today and watch her boss take care of a toddler and a baby. She fought to keep from laughing. She couldn't wait to get home and tell Fox. He would get a kick out of it and probably at least a weeks worth of teasing of their boss.

Margaret unlocked the door and the three of them went in and stopped dead in their tracks. The play pen was pulled up in front of the couch with Bill's and Kevin's little girls curled up asleep. Skinner and Mulder were asleep on the couch. Mulder holding Dani and Skinner holding Sean on their laps. The AD's head was thrown back with his mouth wide open, a gentle snoring issuing forth. Mulder must have started out in a similar position but sometime during his sleep his head had shifted and was now resting comfortably on Skinner's shoulder.

"Mom, do you have a camera?" Dana whispered quietly to Meg.

Meg nodded yes and went quickly to the hall closet to get it. She had snapped half a dozen pictures before anyone stirred. Dani woke up, smiled at her Grandmother and favorite Aunt, climbed careful down from the couch and toddled over for a hug. Skinner's neck must have been hurting because he shifted his head and rested it on top of Fox's. Meg snapped a couple more pictures before helping Bill gather up the two he was supposed to claim and all their paraphernalia.

With Bill and two of the fearsome foursome gone Meg and Dana retired to the kitchen to talk leaving their husbands sleeping on the couch. Sean had been moved to the play pen.

"Did you see the mess in the living room, Mom?"

"You should see the rest of the house. The bathroom has water, shampoo and cream rinse everywhere. Both bedrooms have been trashed and I don't have the slightest idea what's been spilled in front of the pantry but it's slippery as all get out so be careful."

"How long do you think the kids have been here?"

"I have no idea, honey, but I'd say most of the day. Wouldn't you?"

Dana nodded. _Poor Fox. He had been so looking forward to a relaxing day at home reading._

Before they could continue they heard a panicked shout from the living room. "Walt, Walt, wake up Dani's missing." They exchanged startled looks. Mulder never called Skinner anything but Skinner unless he was pulling his chain, then he called him Wally.

They heard a loud groan from Skinner. "Blast, Fox, I don't see her anywhere. Hey where's Sean?" Mother and daughter stared at each other in shock, _Fox?_

Dana and Meg contemplated waiting to see how long it took their respective husbands to figure out that someone had been there but they decided to have mercy.

"Easy, guys. Bill came and picked them up." Meg said as she came into the room followed closely by her daughter. Both women had to fight back the laughter. Their husbands were standing on opposite sides of the room looking desperately around. Dana hadn't seen Fox look that desperate even when they were being shot at and they didn't know the direction the shots were coming from. _Must have been one hell of a day._

The door bell rang and Margaret went to let Anita and Sinead in. "We heard you had our little ones here?" Anita asked.

"Come on in and get them." Dana answered.

Skinner and Mulder sank back down side by side on to the couch while the women gathered up the rest of the baby things. They turned their heads to look at each other, asking the silent question if they should help. _Naw._ Was the joint silent reply. They leaned back and didn't move. They'd done their part.

When Dana and Meg had returned from helping carry out the baby stuff they found Walter and Fox again sound asleep on the couch. They proceeded to spend the next hour cleaning up the apartment. When it was finally back in a semblance of order Dana went over and woke Fox. "Come on, Spook, time to head home." He only nodded and got up. It seemed that talking took too much energy.

He leaned over and kissed Margaret on the cheek and gave her a hug. His only two words being, "Bye, Mom." And followed Dana out the door.

Margaret turned and looked at her still sleeping husband and wondered how he would take the news she had to tell him. She sighed, sat down and cuddled up next to him and thought to herself that today hadn't helped.

* * *

It was several hours later and Margaret and Walter were cuddled up in bed. She sighed. _Well it's not now or never but it's not going to get any easier the longer I wait. It sure wasn't going to go away._

"Walter, I have something for you."

He looked up questioningly. He knew something had been bothering her most of the weekend but had decided to wait until she was ready to talk. _I'm definitely out of practice with this being married thing._ He thought to himself. Walter watched as she went over to the love seat and retrieved a package that she had brought home from shopping.

Meg handed it to him with a tentative smile.

Walter Skinner took the box out of the bag and opened it. Inside was a small stuffed baby toy and a matching baby jumpsuit. _Why is she giving me this and who the hell is pregnant now?_

**Author's Note:**

> To be continued....


End file.
